It seems like first families "win" so often, that sometimes its nice when you know that you have something better that you can feel a little smug about.

BM has NEVER been in or near our home. We do all of the transportation. Which, I am fine with. I prefer her to be dying of curiosity.

Here's the backstory: DH knocked her up when he was still in med school. He'd broken up with her, but when found out she was pregnant, married her. (Seems like the recipe for a happy marriage, right?) They stayed married for 15 years and had 2 other kids in that time.

DH is kind of simple. He was raised in the country. They bought a house when he was still in training. Its in a dumpy suburb. It needs A LOT of work. DH took out student loan funds to put in a state-of-the art kitchen that, thanks to his stupid mistake, we will be paying on for the next 30 years. Aside from the kitchen though, the house is falling apart. She is a HORRIBLE housekeeper and the only time I've ever been in the house, I was disgusted. There must be a year's worth of mail in the entryway, they have 6 pets that shit & piss all over the furniture and floors, etc. You get the picture. Plus, she doesn't do any landscaping and has broken lawn furniture and toys all over the yard - it looks like a junk yard.

Before their divorce, BM was pushing to buy a new house. DH was trying to pay off student loans and didn't want to upgrade just yet. When he left, he suggested they sell the house and she go rent something nicer. She refused... because anything he suggested, she accused him of trying to screw her over. She demanded the house in the divorce - even after he explained the amount of $$ needed to fix it up. Whatever... he signed it over to her.

I was raised to have a lot of pride in my home. We live in a very trendy downtown loft. It's decorated with very modern, clean, bright colors and furniture. Every single thing in my home was handpicked and strategic. I am a very good housekeeper. I pride myself on a clean home where we can come home and relax everyday.

Apparently, when SD16 and SD13 used to come over, she had them take pictures of our home to show her. SS10, who still comes for visitation apparently always talks about the "cool" stuff we have. And, he apparently made a comment that he likes being at BM's house - but he wishes it was "nice" like ours.

So...
She apparently made some comment about how our living downtown is selfish because it's not somewhere to raise kids (umm... she has legal custody, so we're NOT raising kids here). She said that DH is an asshole because he left them in a house that's falling apart while we live in "an apartment that is triple the size of her house" (yeah... and I work). She also said that "StepDoorMat needs to stop telling the kids that I don't clean my house as good as she does" (umm... ok. They aren't babies. I don't need to tell them that you have a mountain of dirty dishes and they need to use paper plates).

DH told her to shut up - and that how we live is none of her business. He told her that she was always a horrible housekeeper and she's teaching skids to be lazy and messy like her. She did shut up pretty quick. Inside, I am singing with joy. She's jealous. And, I love it.